Ranked sixth in the world, Australia will be in the mix but expectations should be tempered

Australia, we need to talk about the Matildas. It’s time we had a frank conversation about their chances at the World Cup. We are all, on the whole, more than a little bit excited at the prospect of them storming to victory in France next year. We have the team to do it.

This is widely considered the golden generation of Australian women’s football. We’ve been saying “wait until 2019” since the 2011 World Cup. We’ve been looking forward to the tournament when players like Sam Kerr, Kyah Simon, Tameka Butt, Caitlin Foord and Emily van Egmond will be at their peak. This playing group represents Australia’s best chance yet and Kerr seems out to prove that personally, given her unstoppable goal scoring rampage over the last two years.